The morning before Joy and I got back on a plane from Portland to Long Beach I booked a photographer to take some maternity photos for us. Originally I thought I would just do them, but after thinking about it I figured it was probably best that somebody else take care of it, and went with Colleen Sparks. It also helped that the she’s also was Aziz’s neighbor.

It was beneficial since she was able to pick us up and bring us to Cathedral Park which sits underneath St. John’s Bridge which gives plenty of things to take pictures by. We spent about an hour shooting around the parks in various places and I think they came out pretty well.

There was much discussion this year about the 9th Annual COC Golf Tournament because i was spearheading the campaign to move it away from Palm Springs to the more temperate climate of San Diego. There was a moment where Brock made a convincing movement back to the desert but I decided that I can’t do the heat and i was happy we did head south. It was especially good since there were fires burning up the hills of Banning which would have made the air even worse.

Friday the other guys took off around noon, while i had to finish up work before heading out to San Diego after traffic died down. Of course they had to send me a photo telling me to hurry up. Once i arrived at the Hilton Gas Lamp District I had to play catch up before heading to the Gas Lamp District to do some bar hopping. It was a blur, and I don’t remember half of what we did, which leads to me not waking up in the best moods to play golf.

Saturday morning we heading to Carlsbad to the The Crossings at Carlsbad which is right next to Legoland and right under an airport. The day actually started off decent for me but once my hangover started to wear off I started to really go off the rails. The back nine plays much tighter than the front nine and all the nature preserve made the course play like a links course. The sand kept swallowing balls for everyone, and at the end of day 1 Brock led with a 99, Roland with a 103, me with a 106, and 107 for Brian.

Saturday night Roland and I had to pay up for our secondary bet for dinner since our combined score was higher than the other two. We ate dinner at Gang Kitchen for some Chinese food which was surprisingly decent. After we got in to Prohibition which is SD’s “speakeasy” which was nice because they controlled how busy it was inside and had a live band playing. The rest of the night i kept it easy on the drinking and made it home before 1am.

Sunday morning we checked out and drove back north up to San Clemente to Talega Golf Club for our final round. Being 7 shots back i just wanted to play in control, keep my nerves down and hope that Brock just starts to fall apart. Considering that he specifically got to bed at 4am i liked my chances. I slowly just played bogey golf, and went back to back with a few pars before the turn and ended up only 1 shot back. The back 9 didn’t start off so well and gave back a few strokes but luckily didn’t lose as many balls as the other guys.

On the 18th hole i sat 1 shot back from Brock with a Par 4, water surrounding the green. I nailed my drive down the middle but ended up on a down slope with 130 yards to the green. Brock hit an iron but ended up with a side lie next to a bunker, which he promptly hit his ball into the water. I then hit my approach the right distance but started to draw right into the water. We then both dropped and i hit onto the green as fast as i could before i could think about it, when then made Brock loose another ball into the water before knocking it closer to the hole than me . Too bad i ended up three putting from the back of the green, which Brock thinking that he won. Sadly i had to inform him that we were now tied. We took the Championship to the putting green, where i ended up missing a short putt giving Brock his first Victory. Needless to say he was quite happy.

We had lots of places on our list before heading up to Portland, but were only able to visit a couple due to being too full to eat, or too far to get to without a car at the moment. We initially thought of going to Pok Pok, but just couldn’t convince ourselves to spending a lot of money on Thai food. This is my list of my favorite places that we got to eat at.

Breakfast

Joy’s favorite place for breakfast each morning was at Nuvrei in the Pearl District. I really like their Bacon & Cheddar Biscuit sandwich with eggs, and bacon, and should’ve gotten another one both days. Their plain croissants were also very flakey, and the almond croissants were full of flavor.

We started off with 4 donuts, and after eating two, we had to get four more when we saw that they brought out even more types of donuts. I realy liked the Blueberry, Bourbon & Basil donut, and the Passionfruit, Cocoa nib donut. They’ve got their own version of a maple bacon donut which i appreciate that it was bits of bacon vs. a strip of bacon on top of the donut.

You can never go wrong with some porky action, and The People’s Pig does the Porchetta right. Its really flavorful that sits in between arugula and a bread that holds up well to the juices that comes out of the pork.

Dinner

Andina is a Peruivan restaurant that came recommended by a friend and is highly rated on TripAdvisor so I made rsvp on Open Table for a Sunday night dinner. The place was packed and we actually got seated at a poor place because it was close to the entrance, and the kitchen ventilation needs some work. The food for the most part was delicious, particularly the shrimp and mango ceviche, scallop with fried onions, and the stuffed piquillos peppers. Probably wouldn’t get the lomo saltado as it was good, but didn’t necessarily much different from the versions i get close to home.

Park Kitchen was a restaurant that i wanted to try since it seemed to have a more unique menu, but sadly it just couldn’t pull it together in my opinion. The best dish we had was the fried green beans, with bits of fried bacon mixed in.

Saturday night i left dinner plans open, and had some thoughts of going to Apizza Scholls or Tasty N Sons but ended up getting some of our comfort food, of wonton soup, and pan fried noodles in Chinatown. Not quite located at the best area, and has a pretty sad looking store, but at least the food was tasty enough.

Dessert

Cool Moon was the first ice cream shop we found in Portland while wandering around the Pearl District, and left the most impressionable flavor to our memories. We got a Lemon Lavender flavor which i don’t know because of just eating lunch was very refreshing. It also seemed to be the most down home place that we visited.

Salt & Straw was another recommendation from multiple friends and looks like everyone has friends because the line was out the door and around the corner. Salt & Straw goes a little farther with their flavors and here i tried out their beer flavored ice cream, getting a half scoop of Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout and Hopped Farmhouse Ale in a fresh waffle cone. Both were really good.

Ruby Jewel was probably the least memorable ice cream we had. It happen to be National Ice Cream Sandwich day, so they were offering up ice cream sandwiches for half off. I got a strawberry ice cream between some lemon cookie, but nothing wrong with it, i just didn’t want to finish it.

I really wanted to try more biscuits, but most of places were beyond walking distance or took too long via public transportation. We made it out to the Alberta area of Portland our final night out there, and even though i was full from dinner i wanted to try a biscuit at Pine State Biscuits, and they had a Fruit and Whip version which i thought could be a good dessert, but sadly not. I really should’ve just gotten it with jam, or honey. Next time for sure i’ll make it out for breakfast, so i can get some gravy.

Drinks

We decided against going to a traditional bar so that i could try some local brews and went to the Departure which is at the top of the Nines Hotel. They’ve got a relatively peaceful patio compared to the loud bar inside, and the views are pretty amazing from the bridges and rivers on the east to the hills to the west.

We got to the airport a little early so i had time to grab one last Portland beer before heading back to California. I wanted a Guiness type beer and got a Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout which was very good. The food didn’t look that appetizing so i was find sticking to my beer.

Sunday morning we woke up early and walked over to Dollar Rent a Car to pick up our rental. We saw all the Subaru Outbacks on the lot and thought it would be a good idea to try one out since we’re thinking of getting one for our next car. (It was a very fun car, but obviously not as fancy as our Acura)

Our first plan for the day was to head 30 minutes east to Multnomah Falls. We got a handy guide from our rental office that there are actually many more falls than just Multnomah and you can take various trails to see them all. We couldn’t the 6-8 mile hikes so we stuck to the 1 mile hike up to the top of Multnomah Falls.

From the parking lot you can see the base of the waterfall, and we figured a one mile hike wouldn’t be too bad. We quickly realized that the incline was much steeper than expected. Joy saw another pregnant woman coming down, so she figured that she could finish it too. It took about an hour to get up to the top with frequent rest stops, but it was worth it once you get to see the view. You can see the perspective by the bridge in both pictures.

The bigger plan for the day was to meet up with my old college buddy Aziz who moved up to Portland three years ago. I’ve knew once he moved up there that i would go visit him, it just took three years, and a child for him to finally get me up there. I finally met his son Jordan, and got to check out his house and garden too.

When I told Aziz when i was coming up, he invited me to his Courthouse’s summer BBQ at a former judge’s Hops Farm out in the countryside. It was a really nice event with lots of food, beer/wine, music, and horses. It was a great place just to hang out and catch up after all these years.

Portland is known by many names and all have a distinct reasoning behind them, which makes Portland a mixture of different social groups. This creates a very unique town which has a mix of San Francisco, New York, and maybe even a little Paris. There’s even a term that people used “Keep Portland Weird” which is attributed to its intense following of bicycles, craft beers, recycling, and food carts.

The first two days in Portland Joy and I kept close to the city center and explored where ever the TriMet would take us. We started off of course by grabbing some lunch at the various food carts setup near our hotel (Westin). We found the incresingly famous Nong’s Khao Man Gai cart which sells what else, Thai Chicken and Rice served in wax paper just like in Thailand. It was a really good version of the dish and a great start to our trip after our flight fiasco (we also got some thick skinned dumplings from the Dump Truck which were meh) . We even got it again the afternoon before our flight back home. Saturday we got a porchetta sandwich of The People’s Pig food cart which was delicious and a good Lamb Gyro from Aybla Grill.

Saturday morning we took a bus to the base of Arlington Heights and walked the rest of the way up to the International Rose Test Garden, which has a huge varietal of types of roses, with so many colors that i didn’t know they could come in.

We also stopped by the Portland Saturday Market which is your typical crafts fair type of event with lots of portland-centric t-shirts, holistic body treatments, and other hippy artwork for sale. I thought they would have more interesting things, but didn’t find one thing worth buying. Although there was one weird live puppet performance piece if you can’t tell whats happening in the picture above.

Around the Saturday Market we bumped into the 45 minute line for Voodoo Doughnuts, and we always said we would come back, but we never did. I don’t think their presentation does it any justice if they are any good, because their donuts and shop just looks like a hot mess (especially compared to Blue Star Donut which we did try).

One of the more unique attraction that the city center has is Powell’s Books which is a book store that takes up an entire city block with multiple floors and every book imaginable. I could spend hours there just looking for rare and odd books. After a day and of half in the city center we got through the Pearl District, 23rd St. and the various surrounding areas and knew we had to rent a car for Sunday.

For our last hurrah before the kid pops out, I decided to take Joy out to Portland since its pretty close, they’ve a good food scene, and its got a nice relaxed vibe to the place. I went there some eight or nine years ago and found the place quite relaxing so it was a good place to just take it easy and spend sometime with each other before all hell breaks loose.

I bought some really cheap tickets on Jetblue a few months ago, but when we got to the Long Beach Airport we found out that i accidentally booked the opposite trip, meaning i booked a weekend in LA instead of PDX. It was really early in the morning so the staff was able to help us out without having us have to buy full priced tickets to make our trip.

It was a four fun filled days with lots of food and even some time with an old friend. We got to try out some famous spots, travelled to see some waterfalls and even got to enjoy a summer bbq out at a hops farm. I’ll explain in detail as i go through a couple hundred photos.

The Wolverine is the last of the summer super hero blockbuster movies. Visually this movie was very well done, but the story line was a bit lacking in my opinion. I can imagine that it would be difficult to follow if you haven’t watched a plethora of different movies considering that The Wolverine is not a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), but a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

Spoilers from here on out

What did i like?

I liked the actress/model that they casted to play Yukio (Rila Fukushima). She was actually able to stand on her own acting/fighting next to Hugh Jackman.

What didn’t i like?

As much as i liked Yukio, i didn’t care for the Viper character (Svetlana Khodchenkova). She felt dry, and didn’t seem to impart any character into the character. The outfit that she wore at the end of the movie really didn’t make sense for me either, and as much as i like my share of cleavage, it actually took away from the scene.

Just like in Iron Man 3, I think they did a disservice by re-imagining the Silver Samurai they way they did. They basically took away everything that originally made the character special and turned into cgi character added to be killed too quickly.

Sunday morning i usually like to get out and go for a run, but after running 3 days last week, plus basketball practice it was a good day to take a rest. Joy decided it would be a good day to go to the California Science Center and check out the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The Science Center is a donation base entrance, but to see the actual shuttle is $2/person for a reserved time to enter the pavilion.

We got there about two hours before our scheduled time (when we got there, they were letting in anyone with a ticket) and explored the museum fully before going to see the shuttle. Its been a while since i’ve been back to this museum and i was pretty happy to see that they’ve added an eco-part of the museum which includes some interactive exhibits showing how animals survive in different climates of the world.

The thing that surprised me was that they have an over/under aquarium which we saw from up top before and noticed how deep it was, and when we left and went down stairs it led to an interactive conversation with a diver. Its definitely not as big as some of the other ones we’ve been to, but its nice that we can go to one basically for free when ever we want.

On the third floor of the museum is a huge photo gallery of the story of the Shuttle being delivered to the museum. There was something touching about seeing the progression of the the shuttle from flying over all the California landmarks, and finally making its way down the streets of Los Angeles. This is where it got emotional for me to see the care it took to move the shuttle inch by inch, seeing the joy of people just seeing it roll down the street, and the stories written by the children about their tears of happiness.

Once you’re ready to see the shuttle, you’ll enter the gallery exhibit where you can learn about all the workings of the shuttle and crew life onboard. There is video on how they go to the bathroom, and eat, with an option to pay to go on a shuttle flight simulator.

Finally when you’re ready to see the shuttle you enter the large temporary hangar where the shuttle will live until the final exhibit space is finished being built. Its so large that the only way to get a full picture of the shuttle is to stand at the very corners of the hangar or use the panoramic setting on your iPhone. We spent a good 30-45 minutes just walking around and around the Endeavour and finally left when we got hungry.

This will be my third year playing in the LVI tournament in September and really want to win this year, so i reached out to see if our team could get together for some practice time. I was really pleased that got 7 people to join us at the gym. We were able to really talk about lineups, offensive and defensive strategy which we’ve never had before. We would normally just show up in Vegas, shake hands and basically just start playing.

After practice we all headed over to Class 302 for some shaved snow which a few people have never had before. I really like the Mango one because its got these huge pieces of mochi that gives another layer of texture and there some hidden almond jello on the bottom. We shared two shaved snow amongst 8 of us.

This list is my top 10 Rides of Disneyland for older kids and adults. These rides are a mix of old world Disney imagineering, and the funnest rides in the park that you shouldn’t miss. This also means that these rides will be the more popular rides which will mean for longer wait times.

The biggest tip i can give for any ride is if you are faced with an option of a fork in the queue and is to choose the path to the right. The reason for this is that most rides allow people in wheelchairs to cut the lines of the left queue, and the time it takes to load and unload them is very time consuming.

10. Disneyland Railroad

The Disneyland railroads is one of the last true steam powered trains in the country and its the first thing to greet you when you enter the park. Everything about it just brings you back in time and really makes you use all your senses if you don’t even realize it. The sounds are unmistakable with the toot of the steam engine, or the chugging of the wheels. The smell of the steam engine fill the air, and the open cabin ride lets you feel the wind in your face as you circle the park.

Its a great slow ride that makes stops in Main St. USA, New Orleans Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Along the way you get narration about things your are passing by, and between Tomorrowland and Main St. USA you take a trip through time and get to see a T-rex battle a Stegosaurus in a lava field.

nostalgia level: 8

excitement level: 3

restrictions: none

wait time: 10-20 minutes

Fast Pass: no

Main St. Station is the easiest location to get on, while fantasyland is the hardest to.

9. Splash Mountain

Warning you may get wet. Splash Mountain was the last mountain ride to be opened in 1998 which takes you on a log plume ride through the adventures of Brer Rabbit. The only remaining water based ride in the park, its has multiple drops which ends with a 53ft drop into the briar patch.

Splash Mountain shouldn’t be taken lightly and makes me nervous the entire time because i just dread a random moment when the waves may splash up against the log and get you wet. The drops come at random spots where you will least expect it which makes the ride very exciting.

nostalgia level: 6

excitement level: 10

restrictions: 3′ 4″ (1.02 m)

wait time: 20-60 minutes

fast pass: yes

Keep your feet as close to the sides as you can, because there is nothing worse then walking around in wet shoes

8. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

The Finding Nemo submarine is a redo of the original Submarine Voyage which was one of my favorite rides even though you could see the wires spinning fish in circles and was closed in 1998 (which i got on one of the final rides the day it closed after work). If you’re claustrophobic or feel uncomfortable being an enclosed dark space i would probably avoid this ride. Also there’s a scary scene towards the end of the ride that has lots of flashing lights with explosions sounds that will frighten young children.

The ride has you in a little yellow submarine that probably fits 30 people and starts off by taking you into the open waters to see some deep sea divers and various fish swimming around. Then as the boat passes the waterfall in dives into deeper water where the real fun begins and they turn on special sonar hydrophones so you can understand what Nemo and friends are saying. With a clever use of underwater video screens you go through another adventure of Marlin and Dory searching for Nemo and Squirt.

nostalgia level: 5

excitement level: 6

restrictions: none

wait time: 20-40 minutes

fast pass: no

While waiting in line you may be able to catch a show of Jedi Training Academy held at Tomorrowland Terrace Stage

7. Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

What kid doesn’t like Star Wars and getting to relive great moments of all the movies is a great idea. Star Tours is a 3D space flight simulator that has 54 different possible combination ride experiences that may take you from the snowy fields of Hoth, Pod Racing on Tatooine or fighting off Boba Fett in deep space.

The entire Star Tours experience is well done from the queue all the way through the exit of the attraction. The queue has you going through a space terminal which a flight board, a StarSpeeder 1000 that C3PO and R2D2 are working on, to a couple of wisecracking robots who should be scanning luggage but would rather communicate with you. The ride is super exciting and unpredictable to the experience that you’ll have and finally as you exit the ride you get to leave to The Throne Room End Title which still gives me the chills that leads you straight into the Star Wars gift shop.

nostalgia level: 3

excitement level: 10

restrictions: 3′ 4″ (1.02 m)

wait time: 20-60 minutes

fast pass: yes

If you’re prone to motion sickness, ask to sit in the back row of the ride which should help out a little.

6. Peter Pan’s Flight

I like Peter Pan’s Flight because its such a different experience compared to all the other people mover rides in Fantasyland. Once you get pass the never ending queue you board your own little flying pirate ship and get sent off into the night. You get to relive the story of Peter Pan, in the dark and most of the ride’s visuals takes place below your ship, which is a cool effect.

nostalgia level: 10

excitement level: 4

restrictions: none

wait time: 30-60 minutes

fast pass: no

The ride is a little creaky but i think it adds to experience, and the black lights in the ride is always fun even as an adult.

5. Space Mountain

Space Mountain is probably one of the most unique roller coasters even in its old age. Its a ride that is completely indoor and in the dark. If not for the projection of stars against the dome of the ride you would barely be able to tell which way you were going and which way you’re about to go. I used to be scared of this ride at times as a child and makes excuses not to go on it. Its funny because i was never consistent about my attitude either.

nostalgia level: 8

excitement level: 10

restrictions: 3′ 4″ (1.02 m)

wait time: 20-90 minutes

fast pass: yes

Be prepared for a picture at the end of the ride right when you make one of the few right turns on the ride, which can be purchased upon exit

4. Thunder Mountain

As a kid Thunder Mountain was my favorite roller coaster. I love the theming of the attraction and the ever changing tempo of the ride. Its not a non stop thrill ride, but has moments of calm right before chugging down the track as a run away train. Its a very smooth ride without all the rough bumps and turns like the Matterhorn Bobsleds, and has better scenery than Space Mountain.

nostalgia level: 8

excitement level: 10

restrictions: 3′ 4″ (1.02 m)

wait time: 15-40 minutes

fast pass: yes

Of all the Fast Pass rides this is the one that i don’t mind waiting in the standard queue

3. Pirates of the Caribbean

The Pirates of the Caribbean is one of those rides that really get you with all your senses because there’s so much going on from small waterfall drops, battle scenes, burning buildings and drunk sailors. I’m surprised that this ride didn’t scare me more growing up with the eerie darkness, and lots of skeletons at the beginning of the ride.

Throughout the years the ride has gone through some rennovations but hasn’t strayed far from the original design. I’m still disappointed that they updated the ride become more politically correct when they made the Pirates go from chasing women, to chasing waitress with food. Even as a child i understood the concept of what they were really doing, but times have changed. The second update was when they started to include characters from the movie franchise, and thankfully it doesn’t detract too much, and leaves much to the original design of the ride.

nostalgia level: 7

excitement level: 8

restrictions: none

wait time: 10-40 minutes

fast pass: no

Sitting in the front of the boat will most likely get you wet

2. Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion has a way to bring out the fun in people and it really shows even from the cast members working it. Everyone needs a little scare in their lives and the Doom buggy ride does just enough not to make a kid cry. I sure wasn’t the bravest kid growing up, but i still never really got scared of the Haunted Mansion except when the house shows you “the other way out.”

nostalgia level: 10

excitement level: 7

restrictions: none

wait time: 30-60 minutes

fast pass: no

Between Halloween and Christmas the ride becomes Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion

1. Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye

Indiana Jones debut in 1995, right in the middle of my high school life so i vividly remember the first time I went on the ride. This is the one queue where I didn’t mind standing in for a long period of time because it had so much interaction throughout, and it was mostly indoors so it was a great place to escape from the heat.

The queue is part of the fun of the ride experience as it immerses you into the world of Indiana Jones. If you look on the walls of the queue there are hieroglyphic which could be translated with a Marabic decoder card which was be given to each guest upon entering. You’ll probably miss it now a days because the FastPass allows you to skip through most of the queue where you would’ve spent your time figuring out what the words on the wall said. Continuing through the queue there’s a spike room where if you pull on the bamboo stick that looks out of place it makes the room sound like its about to come down on you. Upon entering the great room you’ll see a mining expedition happening and if you pull on the rope you’ll get responses from the trapped explorer.

The ride itself was a revelation to your typical roller coaster as instead of being in a chain of linked pods, you’re strapped into a 16 seat jeep which can dip in any direction, and speed up or slow down at any time. This allows the ride experience to change on a moments notice, and the ride being a pretty dim light can really enhance the experience without actually having to travel at high speeds like a typical roller coaster.

Saturday evening we had our 2nd dinner party with Joy’s friends at Emily’s house. The group is growing so we need big locations to hold every everyone’s growing family. Its always fun to get together to share stories and the newborns, and joke about how tired everyone is now a days. There was so much food to enjoy and i like how different but similar in the types of food that we ate that night.

We don’t really have themes for her parties because we’re the only ones who really make anything. This time around i tried my first attempt at making grilled pork skewers moo ping (not to be confused with satays). Moo Ping tend to be a little sweeter in flavor and isn’t served with peanut sauce.

Joy focused on dessert and went with the traditional way of making Mango Sticky Rice. We’ve both tried the microwave version and have failed miserably so this time Joy went with the steamer and it came out pretty close to perfect.

Its very rare when i’m actually excited about a sequel to a movie than the original, but somehow Despicable Me 2 did it. Its one of those rare “cute” movies where i didn’t feel like it was going to be full of cringe worthy moments and for the most part i was correct on my assumptions. It was definitely moving towards the top of the best movies for this summer and i would recommend to go see it even as an adult.

Spoilers from here on out

What did i like?

Minions. Minions. Minions. It makes perfect sense that they’re getting their own movie next year. Even if you don’t understand them, the animators did a great job getting the point across with the non-verbal cues.

I liked the progression of Gru, and the girls developed, and especially the scenes where his neighbor tries to set him up with her girl friends.

I finally understood the movie previews that included the minions in the pre-show messaging about being quiet, and turning off your phone.

What didn’t i like?

Really the only part that i didn’t like in the movie was the last 10 minutes of the movie after they stop El Macho evil minions that he injects himself with the same purple serum to become a super powerful bad guy. This has been the same plot for all super hero movies as The Incredible Hulk or even Iron Man.